2006 SOTF-TV Seasons
2006 saw the first seasons of SOTF-TV. While the show did not immediately attain the peaks it would eventually reach, the formula was a clear success from the start. Season One Dates: ''' 2006 '''Winner: '''Brandon Parker (Two kills) '''Runner Up: Allison Christopher 'A.C. Bones' (Three kills) Third Place: Jake Halderman (One kill) Location: A disused 1920s era naval base in the Atlantic. It had been abandoned for almost fifty years by the start of the game. Notable Participants: * Brandon Parker (Winner) - A fascinating figure in SOTF history, Parker is simultaneously appreciated for being the first person to emerge from the show alive, and maligned for the manner in which he succeeded. A member of Hope-Grey’s baseball team, Parker was more follower than leader, accompanying a group of his friends throughout the game. This allowed him to be both protected from threats and get a lot of screentime; in large part due to the interest in the other group members and Parker’s ‘showmance’ with his girlfriend, Mandy Wallace. Ultimately, the group was whittled down to just him, in no small part Parker’s own fault. His eventual victory came not as a result of his own efforts, but a stumble across the finish line at the expense of others. * Allison 'A.C. Bones' Christopher (Second place) - One of the younger students in the game, Allison had a key advantage of being amongst the only participants with wilderness survival skills, as her family frequently took her game shooting. She demonstrated this with her awareness, savvy, and most famously her ability to hunt. Assigned a bow as a weapon, Allison obtained her moniker after managing to fell a deer and strip it for parts, fashioning several of its bones into crude weapons. Although arguably a villain due to her ruthlessness and the unnerving extent to which her cheeriness increased over the season, fan perception has often cast her as an anti-hero, simply due to her popularity compared to Parker. * Jake Halderman (Third place) - However, the 'hero' title is usually awarded directly to Jake. A handsome young man of mixed white and black ethnicity, he was a popular and intelligent member of his class. His diplomacy and charisma, complete with his unwavering determination, made him beloved by the fans, especially when he demonstrated that he was prepared to fight for his ideals. The de facto leader of his group, he kept all of them going throughout adversity, though in the end it was his very heroism that led to his death. * Tate Jindal and Teagan McCafferty (Fourth and Fifth place) - A pair of students who encountered one another early in the game, they had previously been friends thanks to a shared interest in plants and biology. They were known for their defensive strategies—spending a large proportion of the game hiding away—as well as Teagan’s fierce protection of Tate. Before long, their partnership developed into a full-fledged romance. Over time, however, Teagan grew more violent and aggressive, and as Tate finally had a crisis of conscience over her actions, the final act of SOTF’s first romance became a tragedy. * Mandy Wallace (Sixth place) - Pragmatic and a little hardheaded, Mandy was the cold logic of her team, contrasting against Jake's optimism, Tommy's humour, and Parker's naivety. She kept the others in line and ensured that the group was sufficiently leery of any outsiders. Mandy was well-liked by the audience thanks to her tough and no-nonsense attitude, and outrage was widespread when she took a bullet for Parker. * Terry Gaffney (Ninth place) - Notionally a team player, Terry was an aspiring photographer that met up with some friends early on. However, they were attacked, resulting in the deaths of both of Terry's allies. An enraged Terry snapped, and he went on to play aggressively, attacking others at will with the flimsy justification of promising his friends he would survive. The longer the game lasted, the less his mental health held up, and his pursuit of an irrational vendetta resulted in his own death. * Tommy Ellis (Twelfth place) - Brash and exuberant, Tommy's attitude and willingness to call it as he saw it resulted in an immediate following; he is widely regarded as a quote goldmine even long after the fact. Another member of Hope-Grey's baseball team, Tommy also has a place in SOTF history as the show's first heartthrob thanks to his athletic build and his distinct buzzed hairstyle. He looked out for his friends throughout the game, and never hesitated to throw himself into the line of fire for their sake. * Blake Wilkins (Thirteenth place) - Blake is notorious for being the first person to ever kill in SOTF, and as such being the 'original' player of the game. Although quite panicky in nature and mostly being motivated by fear, he had a large following due to almost all of his encounters involving action-packed close combat. * Dalton Suzuki (Twenty-sixth place) - A key feature of the early-to-mid game, Dalton was yet another baseball player. However, unlike his fellows, he did not join up in a group. Instead, he took advantage of his assigned firearm and played aggressively, trying to bully and threaten others, then resorting to violence if that didn't work. He is best known for his full-circle storyline with Allison Christopher, as it was his robbery of her supplies that caused her to take the path she did. Summary: The beginning of the TV phenomena, season 1 had a grand unveiling across television and online channels. Protests, ongoing since the government announced it had agreed legal rights to the show, flared to life more than ever, and continued for the duration of the season. As such, the location was kept a closely guarded secret until long after the fact, with setup work taking place for many months beforehand. Against the backdrop of the protests, however, the country was abuzz with excitement and anticipation, knowing that this would be quite unlike anything that had ever been seen before. Ratings for the season premier were some of the highest numbers television had pulled in years. Naturally, the participants in the game were beyond shocked at their inclusion. Whilst aware of the advent of SOTF-TV, nobody believed that they would be the ones to be struck by the lightning bolt. As such, the contestants; forty-two students from Hope-Grey Secondary in Rockford, Illinois, took a little while to get going the first morning of season 1. In the fourth hour of the game, however, the action exploded into life. Two students, Blake Wilkins and Tobias Dent had been holed up together since the beginning. The mounting pressure caused first cracks, and then an insurmountable rift. Blake went for Tobias, and after a drag-down brawl, was able to smash his skull against a wall. Ratings skyrocketed, more and more people tuning in, and just in time for the focus to jump across island. Here, Jake Halderman famously talked down a despairing Brandon Walowski, only for Brandon to turn his gun on himself instead of Jake. Other, less lethal encounters were also taking place. Allison Christopher, a small and physically unimposing student, was cornered and held up at gunpoint by Dalton Suzuki, star athlete of the class. Dalton demanded A.C’s supplies, leaving her with only her assigned bow and a single arrow as he 'wasn't a complete asshole'. Simultaneously, Brandon Parker was meeting up with his best friend Tommy Ellis, Tommy iconically remarking 'If it turns out this isn't a dream, I'm gonna punch the president in the throat.' Finally in a return to the violence, Tate Jindal, fleeing from another student, was rescued by Teagan McCafferty, who bodychecked the attacker down a flight of stairs. At the end of the first day, the contestants numbered thirty-six. Early in the second day, Jake met up with a girl called Mandy Wallace, a close friend of his. They traveled for a while, then inadvertently stumbled into the hiding place of Mayhew Vovchenko. A standoff ensued as Mayhew grew increasingly agitated, threatening the pair with his six-shooter. Jake remained calm all the while, with a steady stream of conversation, not even drawing his own pistol. However, Parker and Tommy arrived from the opposite direction, and panicking as he recognised Mandy, Parker shot Mayhew in the back of the head. This resulted in the one and only time that Jake came close to losing his cool, shouting that he had been getting through to Mayhew, but belaying any further anger when Brandon dropped to his knees, distraught. The quartet came together shortly thereafter as a group, Mandy and Jake going to substantial lengths to console Parker. He would, however, proceed to dwell on his actions for much of the rest of the game, breaking down in tears more than once. Meanwhile, A.C was taking her first steps down her road to notoriety. Hungry and tired, she elected to try to hunt herself some food. An entire morning of stalking later, and she was able to track and kill a young deer, a fascinating encounter which remains one of the only occasions a contestant has turned their weapons on something outside of their fellows. (Or a camera). A.C would go on to make camp in the woods; a camp which was discovered shortly thereafter by another student. In no mood to fall foul of another robbery, she struck first, bludgeoning the unfortunate girl with a flaming branch from her campfire. Dalton continued leaving a mark, engaging in a lengthy gunfight with a group occupying a small watchpost, after an attempt to threaten them went sour. Two of the three students in the building were killed before Dalton was driven off. The survivor, Terry Gaffney, swore to his dead friends that he would make it out alive by any means necessary. Tate and Teagan barricaded themselves inside a warehouse, and set about turning the building into their own private fortress. Blake Wilkins also added a second kill to his tally, beating another contestant to death with a set of brass knuckles he’d inherited from Tobias. Another figure came into prominence in the middle of the third day. Having kept a low profile to that point, a twitchy Jana O'Brady encountered a student named Morris Peters whilst on watch for her group. Morris attempted to make a peace offering, going into his pocket, and Jana panicked, thinking he was going to pull a gun. Shooting him dead, she discovered he was going to produce just a snack bar. Her allies, Braden North and Chrissy Jukes, interrogated her at length over this killing, and it was only uneasily that they resolved they could still trust Jana. Across the island, Terry encountered the barricaded building of Tate and Teagan. He attempted entry, but was thwarted at every turn, at one stage trying to scale the wall and climb through a window, only to humiliatingly slip and fall. His growing instability was highlighted by the furious rant he shouted before leaving, swearing revenge. Shortly thereafter, Jake's group set up base camp in the island's one and only pub, where they would remain for most of the rest of the game. When Parker chided Tommy for drinking, he replied 'man if they're not gonna bust you for murder, I will eat my damn sneakers if the cops come after me for a beer.' Meanwhile, A.C had 'equipped' herself over the course of the previous day. Painstakingly she had skinned the dead deer, and then taken it to pieces for useful parts. She was able to fashion several crude shivs out of the animal's bones, the audience latching on to this creativity and responding with their own, dubbing her 'Bones'. Of even greater interest, however, was that she then ran directly into Dalton. Catching one another off guard, A.C managed to knock clear Dalton's gun. In a fierce fight, A.C disabled him, planting one of the shivs into the back of his knee. Taking back her own gear, as well as Dalton's gun, A.C left him wounded, but then paused in the doorway. "Here's that arrow back. Thanks," she told him, firing off a shaft into his chest. After a day of suspicion and thinly-veiled scrutiny, Jana snapped. Paranoia ramping up, she became convinced that Braden and Chrissy were just looking for an excuse to kill her. She struck first, and murdered both whilst their backs were turned. Tate and Teagan's seclusion continued; it is rumoured that attempts to DZ their warehouse were overruled due to the presence of Terry and the obvious romantic affections growing between them both. This only became more pronounced after Tate ducked out to use the bathroom, and then was protected by Teagan once again after another contestant ambushed him. Jake's group met and turned away a number of prospective allies, driven by Mandy pointing out that the more people they had, the harder it would be to trust everyone there. This isolationism, however, played against them. When Parker and Tommy headed out on a scavenging run, they ran afoul of one of those they'd previously rejected from their group. Although Tommy fought him off, the noise brought in Blake Wilkins, who attacked Tommy from behind. Paralysed by fear and indecision, Parker stood frozen, unable to fire his gun. By the time Tommy dropped Blake on his head, breaking his neck, he had been stabbed multiple times, wounds which proved fatal. Terry, having scrounged around the island, killing two others, returned to the warehouse. Blowing through the barricades with a grenade, he charged into the fray. In a TV image which endures to this day, the first sight of conflict was Terry stumbling backward through the doorway, impaled on the point of Teagan's spear, driving him down to the ground. At the start of the sixth day, the survivors of the field stood at eight. Here, the producers began to herd the remaining competitors together through dangerzones. This proved to be the undoing of original radar-skimmer Frank Markson, who was forced to leave hiding and had the misfortune of walking directly into A.C, who promptly killed him. Back near the pub, Parker came face to face with Jana O'Brady, immediately forced to duck for cover when she shot at him, but unable to bring himself to return fire. Mandy came to the rescue, intervening to defend Parker, but taking a bullet to the leg in the process. Over the next hour, she bled out from the injury. Five students made it to endgame, which took place in the most built-up part of the island. Jake, A.C, Tate, Teagan, and Parker. The two pairs encountered one another first, and after a tense standoff, a committed, determined Teagan attacked. Knocking down Parker, she was able to injure him before turning on Jake. As they struggled in hand to hand combat, a terrified Tate attempted to intervene. Berserk and unthinking, Teagan lashed out, ripping out Tate's throat with her spear. A moment later, as she stood stunned by what she had done, Jake blindsided her with his nailed bat and killed her. Jake soothed Tate as he lay on the ground, dying shortly afterwards. It was then that A.C Bones arrived. Opening with a volley of bullets, she immediately wounded Jake. The pair returned fire, but she had vanished from view. For the next half hour, A.C slowly maneuvered around the area, taking potshots at the two of them with her bow, but failing to cause any significant harm. Meanwhile, Jake and Parker moved a little each time A.C popped back up, nearly catching her out more than once. Eventually, running out of both ammunition and arrows, A.C flanked the pair, springing on Jake as he attempted to scout around a corner. A violent hand-to-hand fight ensued as shivs met bat. Although faster, A.C was definitively weaker than Jake, and took several brutally hard hits. However, she gave almost as good as she got, and the tide of the fight swung back and forth wildly. What clinched it was Parker. Attempting to get a good aiming angle on them both, Parker hesitated to pull the trigger for just a second too long, accidentally shooting Jake in the back. With the injury, Jake was finally unable to fight back any further, and A.C subsequently opened him up from the stomach. At that stage heavily wounded, A.C rounded on Parker next, but finally with a clear shot, he was able to hit her square in the chest and prove to be SOTF-TV’s last and first survivor. Legacy: * Rated as: Good * Season 1 was SOTF-TV’s proof of concept and in that regard, it was a rip-roaring success. Audience engagement and viewing figures were high from start to finish, and the show became a sensation practically overnight. Protests persisted and persist, but were blunted by the outpouring of public support for the program. The main shortcoming of the season, besides its contentious winner, was that many of the production values hadn’t been polished to the sheen they would adopt in later years. Several scenes had poor camera angles or audio, and an overworked editorial team made hack jobs of splicing together the footage. Later remasterings have met with even stronger reception. * Season 1 also gave rise to the description of 'Parkering', 'Parking' or being 'A Parker', referencing the way in which Brandon Parker played his winning game. Generally speaking, the 'Parking' label is applied to those that refuse to play in a particularly moralistic fashion, especially if they hide behind allies whilst doing so. * Parker himself made some media appearances, but did not become anything close to the level of celebrity of later winners. Indeed, in his interviews, he appeared to be disinterested and in some ways vacant. He more or less disappeared from the public eye other than the occasional sparse showing at various SOTF-TV related events. He now lives a private life in a gated community in northern California. * A.C is probably the most popular participant from the game. She is highly regarded for her resourcefulness and her unusual attitude shift. She features very heavily in marketing and merchandise to this day; even moreso than the actual winner. A.C is also the protagonist and main playable character of Road of Bones, a critically acclaimed action-adventure game depicting A.C's trials through 'the underworld'. * A cinematic adaptation of Season 1 titled simply 'Parker' was released in 2016. Directed by Kyle Vanderheim, the film received a lot of praise, particularly for its boldness of making Parker the focal point and still managing to pull off a compelling story. * Tate and Teagan are considered to be the 'first couple' of SOTF-TV, their slow-burning romance and tragic end are the measuring stick against which almost any showmance will be inevitably compared to. *Blake Wilkins and Jana O'Brady, at four kills apiece, together held the original kill record for SOTF. Suggested by: Namira Season Two Dates: ''' Autumn 2006 '''Winner: '''Jesús Amaro (four kills) '''Runner Up: '''Georgie Preston (eight kills) '''Third Place: '''Anya Buchansky (three kills) '''Location: A modern north-Atlantic island named Veranda. Although minimally populated and underdeveloped prior to Season Two, the local residents received a large payout from TV producers to relocate for the season and to hand over filming rights for later years. Notable Participants: * Jesús Amaro (winner) - Quiet and unassuming, Jesús was a studious sort who wasn't considered to have much of a chance in the game. He was fortunate enough to find a group early on, but caught the imagination and hearts of the audience with his remarkable growth throughout the season. Going from a meek and fearful follower to an inarguably heroic leader, Jesús never stopped striving and never failed to be involved in interesting scenes. Indeed such was his acclaim that his group, the Bible Buddies, was named (in part) for him. * Georgie 'Elvis' Preston (second place) - One of Season Two's biggest villains, Georgie was a talented musician and cheerfully popular presence with his schoolfriends. However, landing in the game, Georgie's early-game morals gave way to a ruthless streak as he betrayed two allies over the course of the season and developed a vicious spree of sniping kills. Despite his unapologetic villainy, Georgie had quite a number of fans, as he was good-looking and had a habit of singing softly to himself to maintain his spirits whilst alone. * Anya Buchansky (third place) - Troubled both inside and outside of the game, Anya had a turbulent home life and often found herself disciplined at school. In SOTF, she was a figure of tragedy, losing close companions on multiple occasions, and then later being forced to put down one of her friends who had turned rogue player. In spite of this, her spirit and self-motivation never flagged, and she came to be regarded as one of the game's heroes. However, it's a matter for some debate if this perception was more to do with her clearly amoral foils than her actual motives and actions. * Wendell Crane (fourth place) - Surly and aggressive, Wendell was known for his blunt nature and refusal to engage in conversation. After delivering a handful of beatings to other contestants (a tendency he was known for back in Davenport), Wendell became progressively angrier and more violent. This culminated in his fourth beating being fatal after he stomped on his victim's head, and he carried on with this level of violence all the way through to endgame. He was fairly unpopular due to the extent of his brutality, lack of variance in methods, and his sullen, sulky demeanour, refusing to acknowledge the cameras and often going out of his way to prevent them from getting good action shots. * Holly Luciana (fifth place) - An introverted and shy girl who was a frequent victim of bullying, the game saw a transformation of Holly's personality. She became determined, outspoken, and surprisingly animated. Defending herself early on from an attacker, Holly decided to become the aggressor, actively hunting and killing her fellows. Because of her encounters with Jesús's 'Bible Buddies', she took on a prominent role in the development of the season and other key cast members. * Darlene Wayne (sixth place) - An intermittent ally of Anya, the two girls had a falling out early on after the death of their mutual friend Imogen Domingues. They met back up in the midgame after Darlene was severely traumatised from being subjected to a near-literal bloodbath. Although Anya was able to help Darlene out of her depressive fugue, Darlene eventually determined that the only way to survive was to play, and became one of the big late-starting killers. * Big' Stevie Cromwell (tenth place)'' - Named for his diminutive height of 5ft 1", Stevie was brave and courageous and the best friend of Jesús Amaro. Whenever Jesús had doubts, Stevie was there to encourage him, and was similarly there to bolster the spirits of the other members of his group. His death at the hands of Georgie was considered to be perhaps the most emotionally charged scene of the entire game. * Charlie Edison (sixteenth place) - An intriguing case of a person who attempted to play early on but then turned over an almost entirely fresh leaf. After utterly failing to rob Georgie and Jason, Charlie was humbled and genuinely remorseful of his actions. Realising that violence had backfired spectacularly, Charlie joined up with the Bible Buddies and became an important component of the group. * 'Alley' Katherine Groman (nineteenth) - Part of the Bible Buddies group, Kat was close to Buddy, and was the most disparate from the others, fiery and argumentative. However, in spite of this, she invested herself fully into the group's success, quite a contrast from her delinquent history at school. Her aggression and willingness to chase down players made for significant speculation about whether she would actually have been a hero had she not joined up with the group. * Dave 'Bateman' Watts (twentieth place) - Dave was, after Buddy, probably the most physically imposing member of Season Two, having hit a big growth spurt as a teenager. With many pent-up anger issues, Dave took to the game with aplomb, not least due to his assigned weapon, a woodsman's axe. Dave was responsible for some of the most graphic killings in the entire game, and was often very exciting, but suffered from the perception of being a 'predictable' player simply because he'd had a previous expulsion for fighting prior to Grainesville. * Derrick LaMonica (twenty-eighth place) - A good friend of Stevie and Jesús, Derrick was a sportsman and consummate team player. Although he was not too bright (having befriended the pair because they helped him study), he was very loyal to his friends and had a number of brilliant one-liners. He was the biggest advocate for offering trust to others, including both Charlie and Holly—though it was this tendency, trusting the wrong person, that caused his death. * Jane Daly and Deshawn Jackson, 'The DJs' (thirty-second and thirty-third place) - An odd couple tandem with little in common, the musician-and-footballer duo formed a surprising and surprisingly strong alliance very early into the game. Deshawn proposed they work together to mutual benefit, and Jane agreed with neither hesitation nor negotiation. They used their numbers to their advantage in each of their five killings, and one of the major achievements of the Bible Buddies in the early-to-midgame was eliminating them as a threat. * Jason Gamei (thirty-fifth place) - Kickboxing Indian-American Jason Gamei was a strong early presence, known around school for often getting into brawls (though mostly due to being provoked). He defended himself and his friend Georgie on a number of occasions, demonstrating his commitment to their friendship and his morals—in spite of several violent encounters, he only killed on a single occasion. His blind spot towards Georgie proved to be his undoing, as he was betrayed and murdered by his friend. * Buddy Nicholas (fortieth place) - A physically imposing delinquent, Buddy had an age advantage over his peers, having been held back for a year prior to the game. It was hoped that he would prove to be a major player due to his history and lack of close attachments, but instead fell into a protective role, refusing staunchly to harm others. His heroic sacrifice to protect his friends had long-lasting and far-reaching consequences throughout the rest of the game. The fans latched on to this, dubbing the surviving group members the Bible Buddies, in part due to their unified motivation to honour Buddy's death. * Imogen Domingues (forty-second place) - Close to both Anya and Darlene, in a similar social circle, Imogen's impact was early but far-reaching. Her death spurred the separation of the two, and informed almost their entire story arcs. '''Summary: With Season One still fresh and hot in the public consciousness, Season Two enjoyed a major buzz. Many of the initial protests had died down after seeing just how much of a smash hit TV's debut was, and whilst some redoubled their efforts, in many ways the resistance had already become muted. Instead, Two brought with it a sense of major anticipation; having had a taste and idea of what to expect from SOTF-TV, the viewing public was eager for more. An ambitiously sized game saw fifty-two participants each drawn from Grainesville Secondary in Davenport, Iowa. The school was well-known as being from a lower income and more crime hit area, although Grainesville also had a good reputation of giving its students second chances and helping out young offenders. Furthermore, in a first instance of selective casting, the producers elected to take on a significant contingent of known Grainesville troublemakers. In this manner, they hoped to add a harder edge to the game and mitigate the chances of seeing a repeat of Brandon Parker and a victory for a passive passenger. This plan did meet with some success; a number of the more delinquent elements of the pool did indeed elect to turn player early on. However, the meddling attracted some flak, audiences complaining that the inclusion of so many obvious troublemakers caused the game to become more contrived, especially given the school's existing reputation. Indeed, the most intriguing early interest came from a case of someone subverting these expectations. Buddy Nicholas, seventeen years of age, nearly expelled from Grainesville and frequent gym bunny, managed to corner the hiding pair of Jesús Amaro and 'Big' Stevie Cromwell. Buddy loomed over the two of them menacingly, and then immediately deescalated, apologising for spooking them. Although the situation remained tense, Buddy successfully won the trust of the two boys by placing his assigned weapon—a machete—flat on the floor between them all. The tension slowly evaporated, and the trio fell to talking, Buddy at one stage making the tongue in cheek promise that as their 'big brother', "Ima make sure ya'll stay safe." Meanwhile, Georgie Preston made his first appearance alongside a friend of his, Jason Gamei. After discussing the game, the two descended from their treehouse hiding spot. However, the pair were immediately threatened at gunpoint by Charlie Edison, one of the troublemakers, with several shoplifting and petty theft infractions. Charlie coldly demanded the duo's supplies, and, intimidated by Charlie's rifle, the pair reluctantly complied. However, as Charlie picked over what he'd obtained, he let his guard down, lowering the gun to start mocking the 'uselessness' of Georgie's assigned weapon, a ratchet. Taunting Jason by spinning it in his face, the tables were turned in an instant as Jason retaliated by kicking Charlie in the head, knocking him out cold. The pair promptly took back their stuff, along with Charlie's gun and half his supplies as payback. Elsewhere on the island, three girls met up in a cavernous warehouse, a location which would go on to be significant for much of the game. The trio, Anya Buchansky, Darlene Wayne and Imogen Domingues, were good friends before the game, and agreed to an alliance. Their rapport and entertaining chatter won them a good portion of early screentime, despite not actually getting up to very much to start things off. Several early game players also rushed straight out of the gates. Dave Watts, after wandering for the game's opening hours, charged down and butchered the very first person he encountered with his axe. Holly Luciana was assaulted by one of her bullies after passing off a broken branch as her weapon, and being considered easy pickings. In the midst of a one-sided fight, Holly was able to retrieve her shotgun from its hiding spot and vaporise her assailant's head. Meanwhile, Jane Daly and Deshawn Jackson partnered up, scoring two kills in quick succession with a distract-and-ambush strategy. The pace, at the conclusion of a breathless first day, was set at eight dead, forty-four surviving. Early on the second day, a student by the name of Liana Lixeng left her first mark on the game. She had spent the opening part of the season scouting the largest house on the island, the mayor's mansion. Inexplicably, Liana had exhausted a great deal of time and effort in prying up the floorboards in the drawing room with her assigned crowbar. Although she'd fled the scene when the mansion was dangerzoned, she returned the moment it became clear to continue her work. Eventually, she was able to tear up enough of the floor to create a hole down to the building's disused basement, and then immediately covered it back up. When another student named Gavin Japonsky happened along, Liana's intentions became clear. Falling through the floor, Gavin smashed his face off of the edge of the hole, knocking himself unconscious, and would proceed to drown in his own blood as he lay senseless in the basement. Liana lowered herself into the basement with some tied-together sheets, stole Gavin's supplies, and then proceeded to fortify the building, blocking doorways and corridors with the intention of funneling intruders into her 'death pit'. Jesús, Stevie and Buddy enjoyed some fresh recruits to their group as they were joined by Derrick LaMonica and 'Alley' Katherine Groman, friends to Jesús and Buddy respectively. The meeting was amicable and trusting, even the initially skeptical Kat being won over by Buddy's sincerity. The group's ranks even swelled to six in the early afternoon after they encountered Charlie Edison, despondent after his failed robbery. Freely admitting what he'd attempted to do, Charlie pleaded with great humility for a second chance, and after some discussion, was also allowed to join them. Their growing, harmonious alliance was underscored with the intention to survive, however they could. Where one alliance was flourishing, however, two others were cracking. The Anya-Imogen-Darlene axis were caught unawares by Rhonda Macon, who managed to pick out Imogen as she stood watch on the warehouse's outside balcony. Imogen, hit by the harpoon from Rhonda's assigned harpoon gun, stumbled backwards, crashed through the window behind her, and then landed straight on her head between her companions, fracturing open her skull. Rhonda immediately left the scene, and Anya and Darlene had a hysterical argument. Irrationally blaming Anya for Imogen's death, Darlene fled, abandoning her friend. Elsewhere, Jason and Georgie were accosted by Ryan Rosten. Georgie attempted to fire a warning shot, but was not familiar enough with the gun, realising belatedly it was unloaded. In no mood to be robbed again, Jason struck first, assailing Ryan with a flurry of blows, hurling him down a flight of stairs and breaking his neck. Jason was sombre over the violence, and Georgie shaken by what had transpired. Increasingly frustrated by his situation, Wendell took his anger out on Leigh Marlinson, beating the girl badly and leaving her barely conscious. Although he had already been involved in two fights already, the brutality took a major uptick on this occasion, particularly because Leigh hadn't even fought back. This was also the first occasion where Wendell outwardly displayed his distaste for the cameras, pushing Leigh against one and obscuring the view of a second on the opposite wall simply by interposing himself between her and it. A key moment was to happen shortly afterwards. For all their numbers, the Jesús-Buddy alliance lacked in one crucial area; their weaponry. All of their armaments were either jokes or melee, and in the case of Charlie, none at all. Buddy, on sentry duty, saw Jane approaching the team's hideout in a boathouse, and carefully called out to her. Attempting to trick him into letting her inside, Buddy didn't buy her deceit for a moment, correctly deducing that she'd been working with Deshawn. Rumbled, Jane started shooting, and was joined by Deshawn a moment later. Roaring at his allies to retreat, Buddy held the door from the relentless attack, putting his body on the line to prevent Deshawn forcing it open. Although shot multiple times, Buddy did not allow himself to fall until all of his friends made it out alive. Afraid and shellshocked in the aftermath of this loss—not realising that Buddy wasn't following until it was too late—the group became subdued, huddling together in silence in a makeshift camp. Kat and Derrick both expressed doubts about the group, and it seemed as if they might drift apart entirely. However, Jesús, a low-profile figure to that point, rallied the troops with a speech, starting off quiet but gaining in confidence and feeling over time as he declared that they needed to stick together, now more than ever, both for themselves and to honour Buddy's sacrifice. This raised everyone's spirits, and it was around this time fans began to nickname the team 'The Bible Buddies'. That evening, Jason and Georgie had a long conversation about the game and their experiences so far. Each traded the rifle with one another as they fired at an array of empty bottles and tin cans they'd set up on a fence. The discussion lasted over an hour, concluding as Jason reset the cans one more time and said "No matter what, we shouldn't let this change who we are,". Georgie, moments later, responded "It's Survival of the Fittest; you change, or you die," and promptly shot Jason in the head. On the third day, Jane and Deshawn scored their fifth kill as a duo, pincer-attacking another student as they explored the warehouse and stabbing her to death. However, this was where their streak ended. The Bible Buddies, realising what a dangerous threat the DJs were, had determined to track down their adversaries. Counting on the fact that the pair hadn't seen who else was partnered with Buddy, Stevie managed to bluff them into believing he was a lone student, wounded and needing help. As Jane kept him occupied, Deshawn slipped out of one of the building's side entrances, aiming to ambush him from behind. Unbeknownst to him, however, the other members of the group had surrounded the warehouse, and were watching every exit. As Deshawn crept around the edge of the warehouse, Jesús sprang upon him from the underbrush, slitting his throat. Jane, unawares, continued to keep Stevie talking, but grew increasingly anxious as Deshawn failed to show. Announcing she was going to 'come out and speak face to face', Jane emerged from the building. The second she opened the door, Kat smashed her in the head with a rebar rod, shattering Jane's skull at the temple and killing her instantly. However, as this dynamic duo fell, other villains were emerging into their own. Wendell finally reached his breaking point as another student began antagonising him about his behaviour, home life, and body odour. The instigator, Troy Itano, had already successfully baited someone else earlier, luring them into a snare trap to strangle themselves to death. Troy's second attempt did not go nearly so well. Although Wendell did indeed lose his temper, his blind rage was so overpowering that he charged straight through Troy's latest trap. A horrific beatdown ensued, ending with the graphic sight of Wendell trapping Troy against a tree stump and repeatedly stomping on his head. Liana's 'death pit' fared better than Troy's trap as she was able to catch Brodie Wilfred in the concealed hole. Suffering a compound leg fracture in the fall, Brodie did not die immediately like Gavin, and audiences were treated to Liana's callousness as she ignored his cries for help. The pair shared an intriguing dynamic throughout the day, trapped victim and captor, Brodie attempting various strategies to convince Liana to let him go, but eventually giving up and simply conversing normally to take his mind off the pain. When Brodie eventually passed out from dehydration and blood loss, Liana descended into the pit and finished him off. Dave also chalked up another kill, this his third, keeping true to type by hacking another victim to pieces with his axe. Perhaps most significantly, Georgie Preston also killed for the second time. Having continued practicing for a time at the fences, singing softly to himself, he left the area to scale Veranda's lone water tower, one of the best vantage points on the island. After getting situated, Georgie patiently waited for an opportunity, only pausing in his vigil for food or to swap across to the other side of the tower. A few hours later, another student came by below, and Georgie shot them clean in the chest, slowly watching them die before eventually descending to collect their gear. Later that evening, the Bible Buddies briefly gained a new recruit; Holly Luciana. Although she had killed again since defending herself earlier on, the group decided that they could trust her., given both of her victims were known to target her back at school. Welcomed into the fold, Holly spoke a while about what had happened in the game, admitting that she'd meant to kill—but only for her own protection. For the next few hours, she quietly talked with the others, mostly Derrick and Stevie, and seemed to finally emerging from her shell a little. When Derrick announced that he needed to go pee, Holly offered to accompany him, saying that it wasn't a good idea to go out alone. He agreed readily enough, and they left as a pair. Once they'd made it a decent distance from the hideout, Holly silently drew a looted pistol which she'd fitted with a homemade suppressor, and shot Derrick in the back of the head. Holly froze up, showing immediate regret, pacing back and forth, but then fleeing. When the pair failed to return, the remainder of the group went looking, discovering Derrick's body. Stevie was especially devastated, as he'd offered the trust in the first place. Jesús managed eventually to talk him out of his haze, but Kat was incandescent with rage and proved near impossible to calm down until she ranted herself out. Anya had been wandering alone for a time, briefly meeting up with Kaya Martinez before the girl was killed in an altercation with a minor player. She traveled to a farm compound, one of the island's big landmarks, in the hopes of finding a place to rest. However, Anya wasn't the only one to have this idea, and whilst exploring the compound's barn, ran directly into a familiar face: Rhonda, who had killed again since Imogen, and was now armed with a boathook. Rhonda immediately attacked, and Anya was forced to defend herself with her collapsible baton. Anya suffered some minor injuries, including a slice across her lower left cheek that would become an iconic part of her image, but managed to gain the upper hand thanks to her willingness to fight dirty. Rhonda, subdued and beaten, begged for mercy, but Anya refused, swiftly finishing her off with her own weapon. The morning of the fourth day Georgie, forced to relocate due to a dangerzone, made his way to another high vantage point. The location was a hilltop gazebo, kitted out for birdwatching. It was also occupied. Leigh Marlinson had been laying low ever since her beating at Wendell's hands, too afraid to look for anyone or even venture out of hiding. Rather than take her out as easy pickings, Georgie comforted her and helped patch her up in the process, realising that she hadn't actually been paying attention to the announcements and hence was unaware that he had killed. At around the same time, Liana captured yet another victim; Darlene, who had meandered aimlessly around Veranda ever since splitting from Anya. Unlike the previous two occupants of the 'death pit', however, Darlene managed to cushion her fall and avoid serious injury, though she quickly faked that she'd been severely hurt. Once more, Liana started to engage in conversation, and Darlene played along, stalling for time. The liaison was violently interrupted as Dave burst through the door. He barely hesitated an instant before bullrushing Liana, cutting her down with a swing to the chest and then decapitating her after three blows to the neck, dousing Darlene in gore. Seemingly completely unaware Darlene had even been there, Dave immediately left, leaving Darlene alone, blood-soaked, and shaken to the core. Not long afterwards, Anya came along, revolted by the sheer violence of Dave's killing. Hearing Darlene whimpering, Anya headed down into the pit, and did her best to comfort her friend. Initially it seemed that this had worked, and after getting Darlene out of her traumatised fugue, Anya managed to assist her out of the pit and convince her to resume their travels together. Only later would it become clear just how deeply affected Darlene had been by her experience in the pit. Meanwhile, Georgie was getting established in the gazebo, putting together something of a sniper's nest. Leigh, simply grateful to have company, didn't question him, and the two of them talked as Georgie worked, broken up by Georgie intermittently starting up with songs. Leigh did ask if Georgie had been with anyone before, and he admitted he'd been forced to defend himself from Jason, though didn't elaborate on the situation. An hour or so later, however, their seclusion was interrupted by Hernando Vidal, who had earlier survived a vicious attack on his group by Dave. Embittered against anyone playing the game, Hernando demanded to know what Georgie was doing, claiming that he couldn't allow anyone to keep being violent. He brandished his weapon, a longsword, for punctuation, and Leigh emerged from hiding to squeakily defend Georgie. Caught off guard, Hernando lowered his weapon, and Georgie shot him dead. He informed a terrified Leigh that he'd needed to protect them both, and that he couldn't rely on Hernando not to get violent. However, Leigh would became increasingly agitated and afraid over the next couple of hours, agonising privately that she just didn't know what to do; Georgie was the only person who had tried to help her, but he was also a killer. At length, she determined that she would leave, telling Georgie as much. He agreed sadly, explaining that he was disappointed, but understood, and said goodbye. As Leigh hurried away, Georgie shot her in the back. In this time, Wendell picked up his second and third kills in near identical means to his first; violent close-up assaults continued beyond the point of all reason. All the same, Wendell continued making things difficult for the cameras both when violent and in general. He would consistently mess with the camera angles, situating himself in spots where they couldn't get good shots of his activities, and on a couple of occasions even wipe dirt on the lenses. This was much to the frustration of the executives, who felt their hands were tied from taking retributive action because he wasn't actually damaging the cameras, and for all of his predictability, Wendell was still gaining interest for the sheer 'wow!' factor of his violence. After losing Derrick, the Buddies consolidated, and then, at Kat's encouragement, began to look for Holly, hoping to get some payback for her actions. However, their search wound up instead locating Dave, who had just finished butchering yet another student. For the first time showing some reluctance to engage, Dave attempted to fall back, but was encircled by the rest of the group. Throwing a rock at Stevie, Dave then rushed them, managing to dodge incoming fire and close with Kat. Although not a physical match for him, Kat was quick enough and smart enough to avoid his wild blows, especially with the rest of the group there as distractions. As they struggled, Kat managed to turn Dave's momentum against him, impaling him through the throat with her rebar. However, any sense of triumph was shortlived; gunfire erupted from the group's flank as Holly, having heard the commotion, starting shooting from cover. Charlie was injured and Kat struck in the chest. Holly immediately ran, and despite the Buddies' best efforts, they could not save Kat. Elsewhere, Anya and Darlene were proving dysfunctional yet again. Whilst Anya was trying to stay positive, Darlene's outlook was growing progressively grimmer and more dour. She claimed that she saw no point in continuing onward, and that they were all going to die. Anya responded with an emotionally charged declaration that if they gave up, then they may as well be dead already. Shortly thereafter, the duo encountered another surviving student, and cautiously swapped stories about their experiences all the way until Darlene suddenly leapt up and stabbed the newcomer in the chest. She took off at top speed, rambling incoherently, and though Anya gave pursuit, she lost track of her in one of the island's more wooded areas. The following morning, a thoroughly entrenched Georgie began taking potshots from his nest. Managing to wound one target (the only time, in fact, that he successfully shot someone and did not kill them), Georgie then struck gold with a debilitating injury to Chris Arnson, a low-profile contestant who had spent the entire game with his friend Francesca Rojo. Caught out in the open, Chris collapsed square in the middle of Georgie's killzone. Francesca ran out to help him, and he shot her dead with ease. Jesús, Stevie and Charlie had been forced to slow down by Charlie's gunshot wound, and took a moment's respite in a building on the outskirts of Veranda's main residential area. The trio talked for hours, Charlie becoming rather melancholy as he dwelt upon his actions to start off the game, especially with Georgie now on five kills (to their knowledge). Jesús swiftly encouraged him, saying that he had more than redeemed himself for what he'd done. The momentary respite, however, was cut brutally short when the door burst open. Darlene stood on the other side, ranting and raving and with a gun in each hand. Firing wildly, her aim was terrible, but Charlie covered his allies nonetheless, flipping over a table onto them and returning fire. Clipping Darlene in the arm, Charlie in turn was struck in the throat, falling down and choking on his blood, but still managing to fire. Darlene, out of ammo, panicked and ran away. She would go on to pick up two further kills over the rest of the day by similarly crazed means. Down to two members, the Bible Buddies began to make their way back around the island, their focus now being firmly on Holly and Darlene. Jesús, subdued at the loss of yet another friend and doubting his leadership, was cheered by Stevie, masking his own pain by telling stories and joking around. As Stevie raced ahead and out of a wooded area, he goofily 'basked' in the sunlight—and was shot from above, struck in the spine. Stevie dropped, and though Jesús tried to run to him, Stevie warned him away. Through pained gasps, he pointed out that the sniper had to be Georgie, and having shot to wound, he was trying to bait out more victims, fitting with his MO. Over the next twenty minutes, Jesús repeatedly begged Stevie to let him try to come help, or at least try to make it to safety, and Stevie continuously refused. Rather than discussing the predicament, Stevie offered further encouragement, telling Jesús not to blame himself, that he'd done everything he could, and that it was thanks to him that the group had made it so far. Finally, declaring his friendship one more time, Stevie passed into unconsciousness and died a few minutes later. Grief-stricken, Jesús retreated back into the woods. Shortly thereafter, Anya caught up to Darlene, who was practically crazed with paranoia and adamant in her conviction that the only way out was to kill. The sight of Anya seemed to bring her to momentary clarity, but only enough to give a rambling speech about her newfound beliefs. Anya firmly rebuffed her, and the story of the two girls ended in the same place as it began; the old warehouse. The pair engaged in a brief shootout and then, with no available ammunition, had an intense close-up battle. Once again, Anya prevailed, crushing Darlene's larynx with her baton, suffering more small injuries in the process. The penultimate act of the game was the confrontation between Jesús and Holly. Still broken up about the loss of his allies, Jesús angrily accused her, demanding she account for her actions. Holly was regretful, but not apologetic, alluding to her past doubts, but reaffirming that she had come way too far now to turn back. Jesús, almost in tears, said that they would have trusted her as a member of their group and made it through together. Holly simply replied "Or just died like the others." What ensued was a hellacious gunfight, both contestants having collected numerous firearms, concluding when Jesús caught Holly reloading and shot her in the head. Endgame was declared at the final four, in the farming compound. In what seemed uncharacteristic recklessness, Georgie immediately sprinted for the arena, shedding all but the bare essentials of his equipment and weapons. His objective became clear on his arrival when he made an instant beeline for the belfry of the farm's attached chapel, racing up the building's interior staircase to set up a vantage point before the others arrived. Wendell, Anya and Jesús arrived more or less simultaneously, and with no ranged weapons, Wendell was forced to make a stealthy approach. Anya and Jesús held a guarded conversation from across the compound's courtyard, but just as it seemed the tensions were going to snap, Wendell emerged from hiding. He clubbed Jesús in the back with a 2X4, hitting him with such force that the wood shattered, immediately dropping him. Before Wendell could finish him off, however, Anya closed the gap, going for Wendell with her baton. Anya, already hurt and tired from her previous exertions, quickly found herself on the back foot against the stronger and comparatively fresher Wendell. Although she landed several hits on him, Wendell stubbornly bulled through everything she could throw at him, eventually catching Anya in a bear hug. Anya retaliated by stabbing Wendell in the stomach, but was not able to generate sufficient torque to force him to drop her. Wendell squeezed as hard as he could, breaking most of Anya's ribs, and seemed as if he was ready to outright crush her to death until Jesús recovered long enough to impale Wendell directly through the back of the skull. Wendell collapsed on top of Anya, and Jesús had to struggle desperately to drag him off of her, finding that her injuries were too severe to treat. As Anya died, Jesús thanked her for dealing with Darlene and avenging Charlie, and apologised that they had not met up sooner. Anya, unable to even breathe, managed to smile, and swiftly died from her wounds. Jesús remained there for a moment, then caught sight of metal reflecting off of the windows of the farmhouse in front of him. Instinctively he dove to the ground, just in time to dodge the shot that Georgie had been carefully lining up. Over the next minutes, Jesús frantically darted to and from cover as Georgie attempted to snipe him from the belfry, narrowly avoiding being hit multiple times. As Jesús made it to the chapel Georgie, finally running out of ammunition, ran down the stairs to meet him as he arrived, out-and-out bodychecking him straight back through the chapel doors. Georgie immediately tried to gun Jesús down with his sidearm, but was once again thwarted by Jesús scrambling clear. Georgie gave chase moments later, before being brought low as Jesús threw Kat's rebar straight at his legs. Each tried to shoot the other, both managing miss due to the close quarters, and proceeded to brawl around the chapel. Both suffered multiple injuries, but Jesús eventually prevailed after ripping Georgie's stomach open with the jagged end of a broken piece of pew. Legacy: * Rated as: Very Good * Season Two is highly praised for having a strong cast and diverse array of villains, all of whom had very different methods and motivations whilst still remaining exciting. The game's heroes also enjoy plenty of acclaim, with very few coming across as if they were being carried, and having deep, engaging storylines. Furthermore, there was a lot of continuity between many of the main cast members, for example Anya and Darlene and Jesús with Holly and Georgie. However, it still attracts criticism for the slightly artificial feel of some of these contestants, particularly Wendell and Dave, whom detractors claim were incredibly obvious players and hence damaged the drama and anticipation. ** There is also a small sense of disappointment regarding endgame, in that a poorly-regarded villain reached the final four and then disposed of a fan favourite, whilst the game's best villain had limited impact on the finale. ** Some minor critiques do surround the fact that a number of key storylines had a similar formula of the villain wronging the hero, being hunted down, and then being defeated in a violent confrontation. Naturally, fans wanted some of these encounters to go the other way, or conclude differently, but in the grand scheme of things, these issues are quibbles at best. * Jesús, the people's champion, was perhaps the perfect winner for the PR of the show. Not only was he considered to be the best hero of the game, his story arc was very strong—many held him up as exactly what Brandon Parker should have been if he'd actually been interesting. Jesús himself was surprisingly compliant with the postgame interview circuit, doing a lot of work for the publicity of Season Two. Although clearly harmed by the experience, Jesús has supported the show, stating that it did wonders for him as a person. He has gone on record saying he wishes none of his friends had to die, but acknowledges that the show has immortalised them in their own way. He is still sporadically involved in the show and willing to make media appearances, but is now mostly focused on his career as a radio show host and DJ. He has occasionally interviewed later winners, and swapped appearances on his show and 'Burying With Hatchet' with Georgia LaLourvey, individually two of the best rated episodes ever. * The Bible Buddies are collectively one of the most famous groups in SOTF history, enjoying high esteem and strong individual fanbases. Publicity and Season Two related media will invariably feature them heavily, outstripped only by campaigns built around the finalists. * In fact, the group have actually achieved crossover appeal. In 2014, a TV show entitled 'Buddies' was piloted and then picked up by a network. It features the six members of the group in a sitcom setting, focusing on various non-SOTF escapades, and intelligently airs largely in between SOTF seasons. Its regular cast includes other participants of Season Two, alongside some characters from other seasons and original characters. One of the few shows to have enduring popularity outside of SOTF-TV itself, it effectively launched the careers of all six actors portraying the Buddies, and semi-regularly features special guest appearances from actual TV stars, including Jesús himself on the show's fifth anniversary episode. * Veranda was revitalized commercially and economically after the game, in no small part due to additional investment from the producers of TV after Two's conclusion. It has gone from a dying ghost town to an active and modern locale, and still frequently attracts tourists and sightseers. Prominent Season Two areas such as the warehouse and farming compound have been developed into tour locations and museum attractions in their own right. * Georgie Preston's eight kills broke the standing record of four from Blake Wilkins and Jana O'Brady. Suggested by: Namira Category:SOTF-TV Lore Category:SOTF-TV